The Detroit Pistons have agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with restricted free agent Simone Fontecchio. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported news of the new deal.
Fontecchio was an excellent addition at the trade deadline last season for the Detroit Pistons. He averaged 15.4 points and shot 42% from deep on more than six attempts per game as a member of the Pistons. The 6-foot-8 forward from Italy has played just two seasons in the States, but he’s already 28 years old.
The $8 million annual salary is right where I expected Fontecchio’s number to be, but I’m surprised that president Trajan Langdon only signed him for two years. Perhaps Fontecchio wanted to reach free agency earlier so he could get one more decent payday during his NBA career, or maybe Langdon pushed for the shorter terms.
Two years is the date when the team will either have to commit long-term to its 2022 NBA Draft class in Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren or move off from them. Assuming neither is traded first.
The only player not on a rookie deal who will still be under contract in Detroit in two years will be Cade Cunningham, who reportedly agreed to an as-yet-unsigned post-rookie max deal this offseason, and Isaiah Stewart.
Fontecchio is a contender to start at small forward this season as he can stretch and run the floor at 6-foot-8. Other contenders to join Tobias Harris as a starter at the other forward spot includes Ausar Thompson or Tim Hardaway Jr.
The Pistons have emphasized putting spacing around Cunningham so the team could go hard on spacing with Malik Beasley, Simone Fontecchio, and Tobias Harris joining Cade and Jalen Duren.
The Pistons could also swap out Fontecchio for Hardaway, but that would be an awfully small starting unit at several positions. Alternatively, the team could inject a little defense by sacrificing spacing in favor of Ausar Thompson as the team’s designated perimeter defender.
The new deal with Fontecchio, and the deal announced earlier Saturday with Malik Beasley, might indicate that the Pistons are not destined to be the third team in a swap of DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls to the Sacramento Kings. The Bulls are amenable to helping DeRozan get to Sacramento but have been looking for a third team to take on salary from the Kings that the Bulls have no interest in. The Jazz, Pistons, and Spurs are well-positioned to be that team, but it looks like the Spurs have the inside track.